Xenoblade requires the faster CPU Nintendo put in the new 3DS

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The news earlier today that Nintendo has given the 3DS a major hardware upgrade and called it the new 3DS and new 3DS XL came as a welcome surprise. A second stick, bigger display on the new 3DS, NFC, micro SDHC, faster wireless, longer battery life, and even a faster CPU all sound like fantastic additions. There’s just one problem: the upgraded CPU will be required to play some new games.

That fact has come to light with the announcement that Wii hit Xenoblade is being ported to the new 3DS. I say new 3DS because this game will require the additional processing power of the new CPU Nintendo has chosen to use. This also means it can rely on the second stick and extra shoulder buttons for input. Therefore, if you own an existing 3DS or 2DS, it simply won’t play as far as we know. In other words, if you want to play Xenoblade on 3DS, you’re going to have to purchase the new hardware, too.

Another way of looking at this is Nintendo has decided Xenoblade is inaccessible to the 44 million+ gamers who already own a 3DS. And it’s certainly not going to be the only game that’s released as new 3DS-compatible only. The extra horsepower on offer will be utilized by developers, we just have to hope a toggle exists to allow games to run on older hardware, too, albeit with a few graphical/gameplay compromises. However, if a game needs the second stick and extra shoulder buttons, this clearly won’t happen.

The new 3DS is a great device, but with it Nintendo is potentially splitting its own handheld market. A lot will depend on just how many developers choose more performance over more potential players. Hopefully those 44 million devices already on the market act as a very big reason not to choose performance.

With that bad news out of the way, it seems as if Xenoblade on the new 3DS is going to be a great port. As you can see in the video below, you can’t really see much difference from the Wii version.